Meaning

noun small Asian tree with pinkish flowers and pear-shaped fruit; widely cultivated

noun aromatic acid-tasting pear-shaped fruit used in preserves

originFrom Middle English quynce, coince, a variant of coins, coin (“quince”), from Old French cooing (modern coing), from Late Latin cotōneum, from Latin mālum cotōneum, a variant of mālum Cydonium (“Cydonian apple”), translating Ancient Greek μηλοκυδώνιον (mēlokudṓnion).

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 3.0